Biography
In southwestern Louisiana's Cajun heartland, Michael Doucet—who had traded guitar for fiddle and vocals—teamed with Coteau during the mid-1970s to overlay traditional regional sounds with a contemporary rock approach. The ensemble endured just two years yet left an imprint still evident more than twenty years afterward.
Coteau took its title from the Cajun French expression for “ridge” or “high ground.” The lineup fused Doucet’s contributions with those of electric guitarists Bruce MacDonald and Dana Breaux, accordionist Bessyl Duhon, drummer Kenny Blevins, and bassist Gary Newman, offspring of country and Cajun figure Jimmy C. Newman; guitarist Sterling Richard and Tommy Comeaux joined later.
The band performed regularly at vanished nightspots such as Jay’s Cockpit and Lounge and Boo Boo’s, drawing listeners well beyond Cajun territory. After receiving an invitation to a festival in France, the musicians laid down much of their first album inside a Paris studio.
Coteau arrived before audiences were prepared. Discouraged by scant commercial traction, the musicians dissolved the project in 1977. Doucet carried similar ideas forward with the more acoustic BeauSoleil, an outfit that often appeared within Coteau’s own sets.
The original members reconvened once at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1981 before parting again. Breaux died by suicide a few months afterward.
Following Sterling Richard’s death in a helicopter crash, the surviving players regrouped to record Highly Seasoned Cajun Music. Comeaux lost his life in a cycling accident one month after the album appeared. His final show with the band, staged at Wolftrap in Vienna, VA, aired nationwide on NPR.
Coteau took its title from the Cajun French expression for “ridge” or “high ground.” The lineup fused Doucet’s contributions with those of electric guitarists Bruce MacDonald and Dana Breaux, accordionist Bessyl Duhon, drummer Kenny Blevins, and bassist Gary Newman, offspring of country and Cajun figure Jimmy C. Newman; guitarist Sterling Richard and Tommy Comeaux joined later.
The band performed regularly at vanished nightspots such as Jay’s Cockpit and Lounge and Boo Boo’s, drawing listeners well beyond Cajun territory. After receiving an invitation to a festival in France, the musicians laid down much of their first album inside a Paris studio.
Coteau arrived before audiences were prepared. Discouraged by scant commercial traction, the musicians dissolved the project in 1977. Doucet carried similar ideas forward with the more acoustic BeauSoleil, an outfit that often appeared within Coteau’s own sets.
The original members reconvened once at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1981 before parting again. Breaux died by suicide a few months afterward.
Following Sterling Richard’s death in a helicopter crash, the surviving players regrouped to record Highly Seasoned Cajun Music. Comeaux lost his life in a cycling accident one month after the album appeared. His final show with the band, staged at Wolftrap in Vienna, VA, aired nationwide on NPR.
Albums